Day 16: Of men and snails

Dear traveler, 

Today I'm not in the mood to get out of my sleeping bag. Or to wake up. 

In the corner of my eye I notice that it's still dark outside and I'm only thinking about how chilly it is. 

Today I'm sleepy. 

-"Marmot, will you wake up?"

Have you ever seen how a grumpy, awoken from her sleep marmot looks like? Well, that's me right now. 

I move like a snail but I manage to reach the kitchen and then, out of the albergue. Actually, it doesn't seem that bad.

I'm not jumping around as yesterday, but I slowly get in the mood for walking at the sight of this landscape. I think we are very lucky to be able to enjoy a different kind of sunrise every morning.

With small steps, we walk along some kind of river, which is covered in fog that slowly starts to move. 

Although it's early, many people that have a better mood for walking, passes us by, greeting us with a Buen Camino. For some, it's to early to say something. Or maybe they believe we are snails. It's fine, I'm not in the mood of greeting people either at this time of day.

I hear their footsteps from behind. Some sound hurried, others sound heavier and based on the sound, I can tell when they are going to pass us by.

One pilgrim, two pilgrims, five pilgrims. One green backpack, another yellow one..wow, this purple one is so cool. I like looking at people. 

I hear steps from behind again. These ones are quite in a hurry. Will they greet us or..? 

-"We finally caught you! For three days we've been struggling to catch up with you!"

An older man and lady are smiling now in the pale light of dawn. I'm just trying to understand what they're saying.

-"We first saw you before Burgos, then in Castrojeriz, We tried to catch up with you to talk, but my god, you guys are fast."

Really? Snails are fast, that would be a first. 

They are from Australia and they were curious to meet me.

-"We like you very much, look, here's a gift from our home, so you will remember us."

They take my hand and by the finger they hang a small koala bear. My finger is like a bamboo stick for it. 

-"Wow, thank you! Buen Camino!"

-"Buen Camino, brave little girl!"

They slowly pass us by and soon, their footsteps fade in the distance. Such nice people. And what a cute little bear I have now, that's hugging my finger.

The sun rises and chases the fog away by the time we reach the end of the river. 

At the end of the river we stop for a snack and after a potato pie and an orange juice, I'm a different person. Or snail. A fast snail this time.

Step by step, we reach yellow surroundings again, where I can jump around as much as I please, like I wanted yesterday.

It's just me, the earth and the sky. And Fulgeraș. And the koala bear.

Then follows villages with stone paved streets, with monasteries and templar symbols. I don't know what those are but dad explains while I'm playing in a swing. 

Next to the playground, I see a sculpture with the path to Compostela and some feet. I can't help but wonder about how many thousands of feet walked these paths. Only I counted a lot today. Where are they from? Do they have cats? Are they missing home sometimes? Are their feet hurting and they can't get out of bed? I wonder and wonder..

Dad is still chatting about templar knights, but he lost me for some time. Instead, I stare at some flowers that I've seen before only in the mountains. 

We continue walking energized and my folks take their moment of silence. I play a story in my headphones and I immediately enter the magical world of Prâslea the brave. I wonder if gold apples really exist. Since I'm off on this great adventure I could actually look around, who knows.

Until the story ends, our steps take us to the entrance of a big town. After a few stops where my folks have some things to solve, we reach the place where we'll be sleeping today. 

Something resembling a monastery will be our home for today. Wherever you look, dozens of nuns, with something to do. One is gardening, another sweeps the floor, two are hanging laundry, one cleans a rug. But they are all dressed the same.

I pick a bed out of twenty and I lie down a bit to finish my story. I'm very curious about what happens with Prâslea. 

Very brave, this Prâslea guy. For sure he wouldn't be able to do so much, if he was not in the mood to get out of bed in the morning, right?

But look, I got far too. Even if I am a snail!